Page 76 of Wreck My Mind

“My sister would’ve never gotten back on her surfboard, much less the tour, if it hadn’t been for OZ’s help. We’re eternally grateful.”

“It’s his sincere pleasure. She is such an inspiration.” Aziza turned to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “You know, I think I’ve lost more blood than I thought. Maybe you should drive the Zodiac back with me?”

Her eyes held mine, and I knew she wasn’t really feeling faint. She wanted us to be alone so we could do what we did second best, strategize.

“I can take her back and drag the Zodiac,” Kai interjected, jumping up and adjusting the tie off rope for towing. “Save gas.”

I practically growled. So much for getting to talk privately. “Maybe we should all head back for now, go down again this afternoon.”

Zee nodded.

“Already?” Kai asked as he turned the engine over. “Not bringing anything up?”

Was he disappointed? Eager? Trying to get information? I couldn’t get a read on him.

“Not this round. Making good progress, though,” Zee assured, intentionally vague while sounding positive.

She realized, like I did, that whoever was involved with Tom’s death intended for us to do the hard work of bringing the emerald up. Once we had, our services would no longer be beneficial. And neither would we.

Aziza

In the wrong hands, my secrets were worth more than the Ozma Emerald. But I wasn’t about to let anyone take either from me.

Especially whoever had murdered Tom.

He’d had family. Just thinking of him made me want to break down and cry. Demand justice. Repent my sins. Hell, I would’ve traded places with him if it had been possible.

If I could’ve gone back in time and somehow prevented all of this… But I couldn’t. The only way to erase the hold the past had was to blow it up. And I’d only managed to set the charge. I’d have to remote detonate it after the vault had been safely raised.

Trouble was, bringing up the emerald put us in a vulnerable spot. Some, if not all, of the crew must’ve been involved in Tom’s murder. Which meant also gone was the option of safely transporting the emerald to Marakata via the Zamarad.

My mind had started activating a Plan B the second I’d realized the body had belonged to Captain Tom. One thing was for certain—we needed to get the emerald up and back on Marakata as soon as possible. Today.

First, we needed to confirm Thea, Leo, and Titan were safe. We found them topside, engrossed in some sort of exercise or training session. In a boxer’s stance, Leo shifted his weight, bopping side to side on the balls of his feet. He threw mock punches at Thea while Titan barked out referee calls.

“Put ‘em up! Put ‘em up,” he taunted as Thea successfully blocked a series of punches. Spotting us, Leo broke his stance just as Thea landed a kick into his tattooed side. I barely had time to appreciate the gorgeous ink of a crowned lion, which looked like the kind of old-school drawing you’d see on a flag or crest, before she followed up with a sideswipe that landed him on his ass.

Leo’s hands went to his face. “Is my nose broken?”

“Of course not. Such drama. I didn’t even touch your face.”

Coop shook his head at his brother, who was still on his back. Then he asked Thea, “Where’d you learn that?”

“Muscle memory, I guess.” Thea shrugged a shoulder. Then, proudly smiling, she jogged over to Nik for a kiss. “Did you see? I knocked him flat!”

Coop reached out and helped Leo to his feet. “Some king of the beasts you are.”

I realized then those were the words tattooed along with the heavily pawed lion rearing up on his haunches from Leo’s hip to just below his armpit.

“Yeah, well, that’s why I don’t fight in the women’s league,” Leo retorted graciously.

“You okay?” Coop asked. The gentleness in his tone seemed to imply he was asking less about physical injuries and more about the tension between them from last night.

“Yeah. How’d the dive go?”

“Not too bad,” Coop said, which made my eyebrows rise, because um…sharks, dead men? “Zee got cut, so we better go take a look at it. Steele, want to help?”

Nik gave Thea another kiss and a swatted her butt as she proudly resumed bouncing on the balls of her feet, eager to take Leo on again. Then we headed to the main deck dining table under the pretense of checking my wound. I kept an eye out for any crew members hovering or lingering close by. Only Cait had come around with basil-infused ice water and a charcuterie board of light hors d’oeuvres.

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